Don t worry, It ll be fine
by CrackerTales
Summary: just one of the boys came back home, the other one was forced to stay in The Unknown (One Shot) *Revised*


Don´t worry, It´ll be ok

by CrackerTales (Notes at the end)

Poor young girl, she does not know how she got in this place

She is trembling, she is scared… Her large eyes are like saucepans and it almost look like they would pop out of her head any minute now, but I won´t like that, it would not be pretty. I have been watching her since the very first day she arrived into The Unknown, her and the boy that came along.

They don´t look so much alike, so they may not be siblings; besides, they are probably the same age. The woodsman´s daughter says they could be lovers, but I am not sure about that, maybe they are just very good friends. Still, How can I know?

I really like the boys baseball cap! it reminds my brother! though the only time I saw him using one was that time when we went to the football game at his school, it was the same day he got food poisoned because of an expired hotdog. I didn´t like him being sick, especially because at the time we only had one working bathroom at home and he seemed to have moved there! I can still see the dark bags under his eyes and his messy hair all over the place; he ruined his best jacket and the car´s back seat in his way to the hospital… or at least that was mom used to say for about a week. I was mad at him because It was his fault that us both weren´t allowed to eat anything but extra-healthy food for a month! My poor, poor brother!… To tell the truth, I take every opportunity to think of him.

Every day, I wonder how he and Jason Funderburker are doing back at home… their home,I mean, this is mine now and I think it´s very lovely! Here I have many friends! but I don´t get many visits; they rarely seek for me.

They are afraid. I tried to get close and explained that I would not hurt anybody but nobody would listen to me, I guess the guy who was before me built a terrible reputation to our kin. Everybody is afraid of me but one person; she escapes her family so we can play together and I enjoy that even when I can´t really touch her, my hand would burn her, I am responsable for that mark on her shoulder she cover with her sleeve. We still don´t know the reason behind it but I am too worries to try again.

She often wonders about him, I know, more than she dares to tell me. I know she thinks of him because I see how her eyes look at the sky in deep thought or how she tries to hide the sadness in her face when, for some reason, I say his name. When she do asks me if I think he is happy, I told her I do; I truly believe he is, and so are mom and dad.

I sense her arriving, she doesn´t talk. When I turn around to see her I notice sadness in her face, I hug myself to pretend I am hugging her and she smiles… but her eyes still dark and watery. I wonder if it is his fault again.

_"Please!"_

I hear the girl calling

_"please! Don´t give up! We have to get back! You must get back home!"_

The lean and pretty girl is shaking the unconscious boy forcefully, but he doesn´t move one bit. Her hands travel through the branches that have grown around him. She is crying, pulling and punching but I know it would do no good; there is no way to get the boy out now, the branches have start to grow inside of him

_"What is this thing?!"_

she cries while he tries to free him one more time

_"What are you doing?" _

She tells the boy

_"You, wake up! Now!"_

Her voice breaks

_"Wake up, you jerk!"_

Her hands lose their grasp.

She calms down

_"I don´t want you to die"_

Her hands cover her face and she cries.

I think it is time for me to come to her offer a little comfort. My friend follows me closely.

"Hello, young lady!" I greet her with a cheerful voice. She jumps at my presence and draws herself back, a _´what the heck are you?´_escapes her lips in a stutter… I wish he could see my big, warm smile.

"I am the Beast!" I growl and raise my hands in a spooky fashion tying to look scary, I think it works because she moves back, away from me. "But don´t worry, I mean no harm"

She still hesitates. Her eyes never leave me and her breathing is heavy... very heavy and scared. I sit down right at the spot. Maybe I shouldn't have joked around. I didn´t acted like a good behaved boy at all! Mom would be very disappointed.

"My name is actually Greg" I explained her "and this is my forest!" I apart my sight from her to look at my home. It is quiet, dark and kinda creepy, but it is all mine and I have learn to love it. It is also sad, nostalgic… poetic… just like Wirt. I wonder how he would approached to this pretty lady here! Knowing him, he would said it was a dumb idea, that she doesn´t need to know him, that she, most likely, wants to be alone, and he may have been right… Yet, I know that at the very end he would do the right thing and come to her. Who knows? Maybe she likes poetry! it would be his chance!

The memory of my big brother makes me want to close my eyes and pretend he is here next to me, with his sad eyes and his even more sad verses trying to deal with the situation… But he is here no more.

I remember just like yesterday the last time I saw him, and often ask myself if it wasn´t really yesterday when it happened. Time in The Unknown is so confusing it makes my head spin. The last day I saw Wirt, was the same day he discover I would become a tree and have to stay in this place forever… it was the day (or was it night?) that he took the lantern away from the monster that had been lying to the woodsman for so long… It was the day he placed my soul in the lantern so I´d live but it turned me into the new beast. That day could have happen yesterday or 20 years ago. No one ever changes in this place so it is really hard to tell.

A blow followed by a scream forces me to come back to my present and turn back to the girl. And there I see my beloved friend standing between the two of us holding her axe in a defensive way. The girl is holding her own hand. A rock lays close to her.

"Come on!" my friend says "Try to attack him again and I´ll cut your hand with this axe!" I gasp at the realization of what could happen

"Beatrice, No!" I called and eyes travel from her to me. Her mouth twisted and her brow is furrowed. I am sure her intention was to look menacing, but the freckles on her cheeks make her look like a sweet, cute girl. Wirt would have written beautiful poetry for her, even when she doesn´t like those kind of things.

"She tried to hurt you, Greg!" She barks "I am only taking care of you!"

"It is fine" I say in a sweet, low voice "I am fine" and once again hug myself, Beatrice low the axe re but keeps watching out for the girl. I look out for her as well, she looks… intrigued

"This is my very good friend, Beatrice" I explain "She carries the lantern for me" I notice Beatrice´s shoulders tense a little as the girl comes closer to us. She doesn´t speak, just look directly at me, her eyes piercing mine, she looks like those hypnotased people on TV... and her hand tries to touch one of my branches. Beatrice grasp of the axe becomes stronger

Please don´t touch me" I ask the girl politely "I don´t want you to see my beautiful eyes"

She stands still.

I look around to find the boy covered in branches and leaves. His eyes closed, his skin pale, his breath almost gone. That´s how I looked like that day and it makes me sad.

"What´s his name" I ask as I kneel next to him. The girl hesitates

_"Tom"_

The only word that leaves her mouth, I look up at her and see that she is hugging herself, she doesn´t have to, Beatrice is right here! They could hug each other.

"Oh, Hello, Tom old chap" I called him with the widest of the smiles in my lips "Don´t worry! It won´t hurt for much longer. Be strong!" And I swing my fist to give him encouragement even if I know he can´t see me. The girl was brave enough to sit next to him and in front of me. Her eyes searches mine pleading.

"He is very weak" I explain and I know she understands, There are now tick sad tears about to roll down her cheeks. I try to distract her from her grief "Were you friends for long?"

"I have never seen him before coming here"

She explains and it reminds me of a thing Wirt said once in one of this poetry outbursts, something about losing someone you didn´t even know existed the day before or something like that, I wish he was here, he could comfort her. I can see that she is sad. She tries to hide it but there´s a tear that has escape.

"Young lady?" I say softly "I can´t do anything for him because his time has come"

She breaks down, her sobs make me so very sad

"But," I say catching her attention "I promise I will honor him every day from now on. I will have his name written on a golden plaque and place it on the tree the will soon become. I will sing songs that I´ll make up just for him and sing them while walking in my woods, but most important, I promise to never, never, ever cut him down completely, because I am grateful for he will keep me alive for a little longer."

She keep quiet so I decide to give her an example

_We are going to sing for tom sake_

_cause he was very, very brave_

_His blond hair shined bright_

_like the sun in the sky_

_and he make the young lady smile_… It needs work but I promise I would be much better than that"

The girl dries her tears, I notice a light smile on her lips… I should feel happy now but I can´t smile like her any longer

"I tried to burn regular tree´s oil to stay alive but, it didn´t work" Suddenly I feel like crying, it´s been a while since the last time I did "It actually hurt a lot, really" I wait for her to said something but the pretty young lady is silent, just looking at me with curiosity in her face so I continue "But you don´t have to worry! I figure out that I can survive just with a few branches of Edelwood for a while so I don´t have to cut anyone down!"

I stand up and ask her to follow me, she obeys without hesitation

"This is Sally!" I point at the large cute tree "She grew pretty fast! I think is because she liked the song I wrote her" I run to another tree, I still feel sad but I cry no more "This is Bartholomew! he wanted to be police man when he grew up… Next Tree! This old chap here is old Mr. Kipper, a very brave man" I salute him with all my respect. When I turn around, I see the girl caressing little Mary

"They love keep each other company and that´s a rock fact"  
The girl chuckles softly and turn her eyes to search for her friend

"You should probably go back home know" Beatrice says softly, the axe is no longer in her hands. The girl nods.

I smile as I see her walk to him, slowly but firm. Her eyes look at him and her lips touch his temple. Before walking away, she pulls out a single leave and place it on her pocket, and walks away.

"Come on, Greg" Beatrice commands when we can´t see the girl any longer "Let´s leave the poor soul alone"

"Do you think I can be called _"the magic tiger of the woods"_ instead of Beast, Beatrice?" I ask as I follow her "I think it suits me much better"

"No, Greg" she answers right after a tired sigh "You are the beast, you should stick to the name"

"But you never call me that!"

"Look, if you want a tiger so much I´ll ask the toy maker to make you one, ok?"

"I don´t want to have a tiger, I want to be one!"

She growls and walks faster. I follow her dancing. This is what I am now, what my life has become, I can never leave The Unknown, I may not see Wirt or mom or dad ever again, but their memories keep me happy every day. I may have become a monster but that doesn´t mean I want to be one. Soon the people here would see that I am the best beast the unknown has ever had.

The End

*Good day, People! So here I leave this oneshot hoping it would be appeling to you, readers. The idea of a Greg beast seems a little spooky and yet cute and I have to write this, of course. I will aprecciate to know you opinion in the story.

Thank you so much for your time, I hope I´ll hear from you

CrackerTales*

P.S

I have look back at this and notice some mistakes. I, as a very unfocused person often make then, even after proof reading anything. So if you happen to find any tyypos here do not hesitate to tell me, of course I would like you to tell it in the most cordial way possible, please.

I have a feeling i should explain further the origin of this one shot, I just thought it would be interesting to see Greg as the beast, he is sweet and light hearted so looking at him as a monster would be interesting. I decide for him to insted to trick people for keep them alive, he would sweet talk them into it, but he would still feel very guilty about that.

Anyway, if you got doubts or comentaries you know how to tell me, write a review and click that button.


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